re: Is Richard Pryor the greatest comic of all time?

Mid-70s Pryor was amazing. His substance abuse really hurt him later on, but there were a few albums from the 70s that I know word for word.

I find I'm less enamored with him as I age. Like most comics, he was a product of his time. Most comics who praise him say he was so good because he had the most tools in his arsenal. He had energy, did voices, created characters and most importantly he was absolutely fearless.

comedy is subjective, so it's hard to say who's the best of all time. If you take into account the climate of America when he hit it big, he was the best. But each era has provided a new comic voice and they are all vastly different.

Is Pryor one of the best social commentary comedians? Probably so.

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It's close between Pryor and Carlin. Everyone else is fighting for second place.

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Or third place...

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Or third place...

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Some of the younger guys are really funny but it's not unfair to place bias on these earlier guys.

On that note, I really like Eddie Murphy Delirious and Bernie Mac.


I mean what 40+ yr old don't know "you ain't got no icceee creammmm."

FWIW: watching a special on Robin Williams & Williams almost went over board in talking about how much he respected Pryor's style of humor and how funny he found it. That he was able to make Pryor laugh on his death bed, literally, was one of his most proudest moments. Compliments from one's peer carry a lot of weight to me.

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I really like Eddie Murphy Delirious

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While Eddie's material was excellent in the Delirious/Raw era - he so quickly transitioned to film acting (and he was one of the biggest, if not the biggest box office draw of the 1980s - up there with Stallone and Arnold) and never really got out of the shadow of being a Pryor clone - the great thing about Eddie is that he didn't run away from it. He embraced being of the "Pryor" school.

Just as Chris Rock can rightly be seen as an evolution from the Pryor and Murphy before him.

And there were plenty of the old school, borsch belt Jewish comics (Buddy Hackett being a notable example) that were incredibly good at what they did. I mean even going back to Jack Benny and George Burns - these guys had radio and television shows based around their acts, but did a lot more bits/sketches than actual stand up (although modern stand up does trace to these kinds of acts).

But, from a pure - "I'm going to talk to you and make you laugh - and think - for 60 to 120 minutes" - guys, Pryor and Carlin are the gold standard.

And this is very subjective (like music). I recognize the genius that is Bill Hicks, but his act just isn't universally appealing. Pryor and Carlin are gone now - but every working comic will mention both of them in his/her top 5 influences, almost without exception. There is a reason for that.

Carlin was a master of the language. Pryor was master of delivery and making that emotional connection. Yes, both of those guys elevated "working blue" into an art form, but neither relied solely or even heavily on profanity to make an impact. It was simply an organic part of what each did. Carlin was more observational and philosophical - the "thinking" man's comic. Pryor got right into the human condition and all the fricked up stuff that we do to each other - and ourselves.

Both brilliant in their own way.

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Carlin's most widely-known bit is his Seven Words bit that is basically him throwing them all out and justifying the use.

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Justifying? No, not really. And his other famous sketches include Football v. Baseball, A Place for your Stuff and Shell Shock ---------> Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. No profanity whatsoever. Did he use it? Sure, but he was far from a guy who

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got laughs through shock

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Sorry you never got Carlin.

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Pryor was master of delivery and making that emotional connection

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Man he could get you cracking up laughing for 45 seconds after a joke by just changing his facial expressions.

He was really a good actor. I recommend JoJo Dancer to anyone who hasn't seen it. And obviously the Toy.

ETA: That's also what makes Chris Rock so good. He'll tell a joke and then give that "WTF look" that makes you laugh.

Bob Newhart is extremely underrated as a comic...

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Dave Chappelle's about to have a huge comeback. I heard 50 minutes he did in a club where absolutely killed it. Dude hasn't lost a step at all. He did bits on the Ray Rice situation that had me losing my shite.

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Saw him at red rocks a few weeks ago.

GOAT.

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That's also what makes Chris Rock so good. He'll tell a joke and then give that "WTF look" that makes you laugh.

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What I like about Rock is that he has impeccable timing - so he really is "acting" like a comic up there - and I mean that in the best possible way. This was illustrated by one special where they filmed him at 2 or 3 different shows and kept cutting back and forth - it was seamless - you wouldn't have known if he wasn't wearing different suits and the lighting differences. Timing down to the millisecond.